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Monday, September 24, 2012

A new house, Milan and some churches

so the running commentary of my life is back on track. thus commenceth my 3rd week in my new house. with one flatmate and one bathroom and an oven that is a bit temperamental. we just have to get to know each other a little better.so this is a beautiful 4th century mosaic in the church of San Clemente in rome. you suck it up, pay 5 euros and you tour the underground passages of this church. the base level used to be a 1st century roman house, then converted into a mythrean temple, then the christians built a church ontop of that, then some more christians built the church that stands above the ground. its like a church cake. there is even water running at the lowest level where the marble tiled fishbone patterned floors of the 1st century noble man's house are still very much in tact and you walk through the tiny rooms. there are also very well preserved 4th century frescoes and because no photos are allowed, i could only sneak this photo of the mosaic men. but definately worth 5euros, you are literally descending into history.

then another church, San Giovani in Laterano. this is the first church of the vatican, even before St peters. the vatican symbols are everywhere. it is huge and popping with gold. the ceiling is sculptural with the gold moldedness. it was sunday so there was mass at the same time in one section. but this church is so big that the sound gets lost before anyone complains

seriously, my floors are going to look like this, even if its painted on!

the ceiling is so high. you cant really judge the height from the photos but id be more than happy to show you if you visit me in rome :)

it is huge

vatican crest

trying to keep francesco and the rest of the heathen hoards out

its bigger than St peters cathedral

thats the church from outside. there was also this cool bio food market just outside the church where there was bio grown wine, olives, ooild, cheeses etc. very yummy, we did some sampling. they even had butternut!!!!! but it was too expensive to buy. (you dont get butternut or squash in the shops here really)

and back home. this is my new room where i live as a cripple because i paid an arm and a leg to live here

there is a balcony and a view

a kitchen... and lovely happy stickers all over the cupboards

in the dark hallway there is some lovely decorations . the landlord's aunt lived here, then she died and they rented it out. he took great care to mention she didnt die in the apartment but i did find her old satin gloves and some other eerie stuff when i pulled all the drawers out my dresser to clean it.

this is what you pay for. light. and its worth it

off to Milan for the day to be suffocated by bags, thousands of bags. there is a new fast train that gets you there in 2 hrs 45min. we were tired upon return. a dirty, uncharacteristic city. the best part is the train station which i saw a lot of. built by Mussolini i think. it is completely huge and beautiful.

i went with Alessandra and Max

the station

now doesnt this look familiar. this could be China. the light is dim and the sun hangs low with a strange pale orange kind of light, JUST like china! so, its polluted in Milan and the weather is not really that great. also someone told me a story this week of a lady who moved to milan with her husband, then her husband left and she saw a strange triangle drawn near her door the next day. she looked it up on the internet and it was a sign to say that a woman lived here alone and therefore easier to rob/break in/ anything! how scary!

next to the exhibition centre. this is a building

the exhibition centre was designed by some cool architect and the whole building is this flowy reflective structure, quite cool. alright thats all i got folks, miss u and love u all lots. wish i had a braai or a public holiday for heritage day! until next time on Survivor!